new york wedding photographer – top 10 in the world – brian dorsey studios

i’m going to quote from our own website here – our little writeup on using a wedding self-portrait studio:

“Ok. You finally get all of your family and friends together – dressed up and looking sharp. Everybody brings along a camera to take a group shot.  Oh, just let me get one picture… wait, let’s get her in this too… wait one sec…. look this way…. wait, put down your drink…. wait…look this way…. smile… wait, which button is it? Did the flash go off? Oh, you blinked… wait let’s do one more. Oh wait, do one with my camera too. And you never see them anyway. Not that that’s such a bad thing because they looked like crap. Our self-portrait studio is manned by a photographer, real equipment, real lighting, real fun. Guests take their own pictures with a remote and see the results instantly on screen. They keep going until they get what they love. They want a nice family formal – we’ll make sure they get it. Want a group shot of school friends – have at it. And after a few drinks…. they get kinda fun. High resolution files can be used to make great big images – not some little rinky dink strip that one person runs off with. No better way to memorialize your friends.”

And here’s what you get (I’ll skip past the nice family pictures to the, “sure we’ve had a few drinks” fun stuff) :

And then it starts to get out of control….

Early this morning, I met with Capitale’s Director of Catering, Larry Goldfarb and Amanda Len to chat about the upcoming year.  For those of you who may not know, Capitale is a wonderful event space in the old Bowery Savings Bank building on… you guessed it… Bowery Street on the Lower East Side.  If you want a grand Beaux Arts space that’ll fit between 200 and 400 people or so you can’t do much better than Stanford White’s stunning 1895 space.

I thought I would share some images from a wedding we photographed at Capitale in the fall.

They’ve got this great old mirrored brass elevator.

And there’s so much great culture to work with in the neighborhood!

Mike’s wonderful sense of humor…

Jen and james live in greenwich village so we wandered around their locale for their engagement session.

i wanted to share another fantastic wedding photographed by Ron and Chris.

erica and danny’s beautiful wedding at capitale.

you’ve got to love a bride in a wedding dress willing to get into a trash filled grafitti covered truck in chinatown -now  that’s heart!

my favorite part of the following overview shot are danny and erica’s new york mets jerseys hanging over their chairs.

and off the newlywed’s walk into the sunset…

on the bowery.

brie and aaron had a stunning wedding at the metropolitan club in manhattan.

and i thought the raw silk runner was a great match for the room…

such a cute couple.

decor was done by the wonderful and fun to work with David Beahm.  Check out the copper mirrored tabletops.

that image you see in the table above is the reflection from the ceiling’s trompe l’oil

clear glass chargers… brilliant.

the grand entrance

the first dance… soul street bringing everyone to the dance floor.

and then this amazing duo came out – Black Violin – wandering with wireless violins – cranking out some classical tunes until the hiphop dj joined in and the 3 of them rocked the house.  awesome!

and the self portrait studio once again was a huge hit with everyone.

If you’re looking to have an old school new york city wedding you can’t do much better than The Plaza Hotel.  Debra however wanted it to reflect a bit of her personality as well so she meticulously planned out some amazing details.

like leopard print and purple table linens…

and these amazing flower filled birdcages…

and a cake to match.

making for a completely new spin on on school.

new york city wedding photography always has to push an envelope in some way – in a city filled with unique people you need to provide unique wedding images in unique locations – like the Ghostbusters’ firehouse.

But let’s start at the beginning.

Dorothy’s ruby red slippers ain’t got nuthin’ on Francine’s tourquoise Loubatins.

below – a great shot of the guys by Ron

and Francine was radiant

as francine and peter see each other for the first time…

mail order bride?

in my photography lectures, I always stress how unique shots are everywhere around us – you just need to have your eyes open, think outside the box and be willing to ask for crazy things with a straight face.

excuse me, Mr. UPS Man, would you mind if we climbed in the back of your truck for a sec?  In the case of the Ghostbusters’ Firehouse shot (top and below), I actually had the Fire Chief move the ladder truck forward to even out the light across the face of the truck and the firehouse.

Below: “The Spectacle” by Ron.

The 18 person bridal party on our way to Tribeca Rooftop.  Keeping the ladies having a good time while avoiding breaking their ankles on cobblestones while in high heels is a neat trick.

on the Tribeca Rooftop

lillian and richie really enjoyed central park the day we went to take their engagement portraits.

it was one of those magical days that made it seem like all the world was in love…

and even the gondola dude was singing…

an idyllic world in the middle of manhattan…

Shabu and Michael met while she was at Barnard and he was at Columbia and in fact, Michael proposed on campus.

It seemed only fitting that we do their engagement portraits at their alma mater…

wait until you see the wedding !

I received this note the other day from a bride of mine whose wedding we shot 2 years ago and thought I’d share it.

Hi Brian-

It has been just two years since you shot our wedding and I just wanted to thank you again for the job that you and your team did. Aaron and I were just flipping through our album, reminiscing about the day, and it is amazing how much emotion you were able to capture in all of the pictures. The images bring back all of the memories and the excitement of the day, which can be felt looking through the album.  There are a few in particular that bring me back to the exact moment when Aaron and I saw each other for the first time before the ceremony and it’s like being there all over again.

Our wedding really was one big party- exactly what we were hoping for- and that is the exact feeling we get looking through our album. It was such a special day, one that we and our families love to remember and talk about and we are lucky to have such amazing pictures to look back on.

Thanks again for everything.

All the best,

Kim and Aaron

and a party it was…